From the Left

From the Right

The right makes the case that GOP candidates should focus on far-left positions taken by prominent blue-state Democrats, and are optimistic about holding the Senate.

“In the Senate, they have said they will fixate on health care in the coming weeks... Democrats [also pledged] to focus on creating well-paying jobs through infrastructure investment and on tackling Washington corruption... polls have shown for months now that a strong majority of voters are favorably inclined toward congressional candidates who will provide a check on this White House.”

New York Times

Democrats need to do “a much better job explaining how Republicans have utterly failed in their oversight obligations. Republicans have not addressed possibly unconstitutional emoluments, conflicts of interest, improper White House interference with the Justice Department, endemic corruption throughout the executive branch and suppression of government data the administration doesn’t like — to name just a few items...

"Instead, Republicans, either by omission or commission, have enabled the executive branch to run amok.”

Finally, some are looking ahead to congressional races in 2020, with grim prospects. “The next cycle is the one where the harsh reality of the Senate’s structural bias towards smaller, less dense states truly begins to sink in for Democrats...

"Rather than a pendulum shift in Democrats’ favor, the 2020 Senate election is shaping up to be the moment when the organic Republican majority within the Senate falls into place. Trump won 46 percent of the popular vote in 2016 but 60 percent of states, and states like Idaho and Wyoming get just as many senators as California. Unless a whole bunch of red states suddenly turn blue, Democrats will be stuck where they are: in the minority.”

Slate

From the Right

The right makes the case that GOP candidates should focus on far-left positions taken by prominent blue-state Democrats, and are optimistic about holding the Senate.

“What have we learned about the Democratic Party over the past two years?... They are against his Supreme Court nominee, before that person is even named. They are against cutting the corporate tax rate, even though both Presidents Obama and Clinton were for it. They have refused to work with President Trump in any policy area — not on energy, not on prescription drugs costs, not on rebuilding the military, not on health care, not on regulatory reform."

"Others back Sen. Bernie Sanders’s ‘free college’ and ‘job guarantee’ proposals. Every Democrat should have to account for these wacky positions of their party’s left flank. GOP candidates can force them to choose sides and either alienate independents or disappoint their bases.”

This approach makes sense given that, “as with everything else in the Trump era, the midterm elections are about Donald Trump... Trump dominates the public life of this country like no other modern commander-in-chief. He dominates politics, the media, Twitter, entertainment and the cultural debate. He is the driving force in the most hyperpolarized climate in a generation... It's all base politics now as each party has abandoned the mushy center."

"Four years’ absence from power is not a structural defect; it is a flaw in the quality of their Senate candidates. Instead of tearing down institutions, Democrats should gain power the old-fashioned way: by nominating candidates who can win elections.”